Instagram Now Asking Users for Photo ID, Suspending Accounts

Instagram new but old terms of service are going live and, along with them, the service is now stepping up its game against spam and fake accounts.

Unfortunately, some legitimate users are caught in the crossfire, but that's the price Instagram has to pay to make sure streams are not totally taken over by spammers.

Instagram has been asking more users for government-issued photo IDs to verify their identity. Plenty of people have been complaining about this recently and Instagram has confirmed that it's asking some users for identification when it believes its terms of service have been violated.

"Instagram occasionally removes accounts due to violation of terms and, depending on the violation, may ask people to upload IDs for verification purposes," Instagram explained.

Users affected get their account suspended and are asked to log into the Instagram website to verify their identity. Instagram didn't explain exactly which violations require photo IDs. Likely this is about spam or users younger than 13, who are not allowed on the site.